A Gayborhood building that was vacant for more than a decade will soon be open for business.
Luxury-apartment complex Twelve22 is slated to begin receiving residents at the beginning of 2017. The 44-unit building at 1222 Locust St. is the culmination of a more-than two-year redevelopment of the Lincoln Apartments, which was shuttered by a fire in July 2006.
The crumbling building was long considered a blemish for the bustling Gayborhood, and frequently attracted squatters and crime.
“This will take a building that had people hanging out on the stoop, an eyesore of a building, and bring it to life,” said Jon Thomas, chief operating officer of Philadelphia Residential Development Corporation.
The property came onto PRDC’s radar around 2012, Thomas said.
“When we got into the building, the city was literally about to go in and start demolishing within 30 days,” he said. “Our company has always been into revitalizing older buildings. We were turned onto this property through an affiliate and as soon as we walked in, we knew it was for us. The uglier, the better.”
PRDC worked with Venco Building Group and structural engineers to shore up the building and went ahead with the sale, which was completed in 2014.
Since then, the redevelopment team gave the building, whose roof had collapsed, a complete overhaul, though the façade, which dates to the 1800s, was preserved.
“It’s definitely a unique building,” Thomas said. “It’s not brand-new construction, so there’s some character we saved in the building.”
The first floor will feature a lobby and business center, with residences on the second through sixth floors, the latter of which will feature penthouses. There will be a rooftop deck accessible to all residents.
“We’re 90 percent on floors two and three, and within two months we’ll be there on four and five. Six, with the penthouses, will be the last one and then we turn it over,” Thomas said.
Monthly rent will be about $1,300 for the studios, $1,500-$2,300 for the one-bedroom units, $2,200-$3,000 for the two bedrooms and higher for penthouses.
Prospective residents and community members are invited to an open house at Twelve22 from noon-4 p.m. Oct. 29. Guests can tour the two completed model units and enjoy cocktails and light snacks.
“We thought it was a good way to show what we’re capable of doing in that building and what the other units will look like when they’re finished,” Thomas said.